1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a mounting device for the head of a golf club on the handle.
2. Description of Background and Other Information
A golf club is conventionally made of a metal handle, and the head is connected to it by an upward extension called the "neck". The assembly of the head and the handle generally occurs by fitting and bonding, particularly by gluing, of the handle on the neck. The head of the golf club constitutes the official hitting component. For the hit to be correct, it is necessary that this head rest completely flat on the ground, the handle of the club then forming the angle in relation to the horizontal plane of the ground, this angle constituting the angle called the "lie" of the handle.
It can be easily conceived that the angle of lie of a golf club varies as a function of the player and essentially depends on his playing position and height. In the case of a club such as a "putter", the three angles of lie are generally defined corresponding to three positions of the golf player, namely, a median position and two extreme positions obtained by a shift of about 2.degree. from the axis of the handle on either side of the median position. It is attempted, particularly in the case of the precision clubs such as "putters", to be able to easily modify the angle of lie in a manner to adjust it to the playing position of the player.
Different solutions have been proposed to resolve this problem, and particularly that consisting of deforming the neck after assembling the golf club. In the case of traditional "putters", that is "putters" in which the upper part of the head supporting the neck possesses a certain malleability in relation to the head, strictly speaking, the deformation occurs at the level of this upper part and is progressively distributed along the length of it.
On the contrary, in certain "putters" called "swan neck", the upper part of the head has a structure which gives it a rigidity so that it cannot bend. In this case, the bending stress is supported by the neck and is exercised on it at the level of the connection zone between the base and the upper part of the head. However, this zone is particularly narrow so that the bending stress often leads to a break in the base of the neck or an abrupt break in the alignment between it and the handle.
It has also been proposed to adjust the angle of lie to the desired value by using a system of shims provided on the neck and/or on the inside of the handle, whose relative thicknesses are combined to pass incrementally from a median value of the angle of lie to the upper or lower values, as disclosed in commonly owned French Application No. 88.06187 filed on Jun. 2, 1988.